Brian Eason's The Buzz: Jackson website as bad as roads

If you live in Jackson and you use the Internet, chances are you have tried to get some information from the city website at one point or another.

And chances are, you failed.

If so, you're not alone - and the first step to recovery is admitting that they have a problem.

We tried to draw attention to this back in April 2012, and the city insisted that it was working on an overhaul. Or at least, working on a strategic IT plan that would probably call for an overhaul.

Fast forward to July 2013, and the website has the exact same problems it did then.

The meeting minutes page is blank, so you'll have to call someone to find out how your council member voted. Helpfully, the government page has a link to the city directory. Unhelpfully, that link takes you straight to an apology, because the website "could not find that page."

The city news page might be my favorite. It has four links, the most recent from August 2010.

One links to a calendar of events from June 2009. Click it, and you're routed to an error page that suggests contacting the webmaster. I tried, and the email bounced back, marked undeliverable.

The top news item is devoted to burned-out structures, which actually sounds interesting. But when you click it, it says it's "Coming Soon," as of March 11, 2010. For me, at least, the suspense lost its luster somewhere around day 372.

But in the interest of constructive criticism, I've compiled a list of websites that are more user-friendly than the city of Jackson's. Perhaps the new administration can use one or all of these as a model for improvement.

? "Space Jam" (movie, 1996)

The Space Jam website may seem out of date - and it is. But 17 years later, the vast majority of its links still work. On the downside, it was created to promote a movie about Michael Jordan and Looney Tunes, so it's functionality might not translate well to local politics. But then again?

? City of Ridgeland (population: 24,000)

Like "Space Jam," it's very user-friendly, and the links work. Unlike "Space Jam," it actually looks good on a modern Web browser, and it has useful information about government, like minutes, agendas - and even agenda packets, which contain the ordinances, maps, contracts and other useful details. However, there are some things it lacks, like the city budget.

? City of Mechanicville, N.Y. (population: 5,000)

It has all the things you would expect from a government website - minutes, audits, the budget, a directory - all in support of a town 1/35th Jackson's size. Some of the pictures are broken, though, and the minutes page is a few months behind.

? Re-elect Harvey Johnson Jr. (campaign site, former mayor)

The design is easy to use, and it has a picture of Mayor Johnson cutting down a tree with a chainsaw. And the news page was kept up-to-date right up until the May 7 primary, making it a better place to learn about the city than the city website. Unfortunately, it's a bit simplistic and wouldn't work for the city's purposes.

I mostly just wanted an excuse to point out that Mayor Johnson The Candidate's website was better than Mayor Johnson The Mayor's website.

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Brian Eason's The Buzz: Jackson website as bad as roads

If you live in Jackson and you use the Internet, chances are you have tried to get some information from the city website at one point or another.

A link to this page will be included in your message.

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